Books like Doing Philosophy

Loved Doing Philosophy by Timothy Williamson? Here are 8 books with the same pull, and why each one fits.

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8 books

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1Think
Think
Simon Blackburn
A plain introduction to philosophical thinking that shows how to reason through questions rather than list doctrines.
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2The Problems of Philosophy
The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
A short classic that works through basic philosophical problems and shows how careful argument proceeds.
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3What Is This Thing Called Science?
What Is This Thing Called Science?
A. F. Chalmers
An accessible survey of how philosophers have tried to describe scientific method, which sets up the same comparison Williamson draws.
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4The Logic of Scientific Discovery
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
Karl Popper
A foundational account of how scientific claims are tested and refuted, useful for comparing philosophical and scientific method.
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5The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Thomas S. Kuhn
A influential account of how scientific practice changes, which raises the question of whether philosophy progresses in similar ways.
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6Theory and Reality
Theory and Reality
Peter Godfrey-Smith
A clear introduction to the philosophy of science that discusses how theories relate to evidence and the world.
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7Representing and Intervening
Representing and Intervening
Ian Hacking
A short, readable book arguing that experiment and intervention matter as much as theory in science, a useful contrast to purely argumentative method.
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8Reason, Truth, and History
Reason, Truth, and History
Hilary Putnam
A philosophical work on truth and knowledge that engages with how philosophers justify their claims about the world.
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